(1) Field of the Invention
This invention is directed at in-container liquid preservation systems, with enhanced personal convenience features to provide adjustable aeration during pouring and a complete stopper system for the container to improve usefulness in a variety of applications and situations. It additionally incorporates the capability to use an inert gas to preserve the liquid by the preventing contact with oxygen during storage.
(2) Description of Related Art
Typically, for elegant wine serving, it is desirable to provide instantaneous aeration during the pouring operation, with the added functionality for preserving and capping the un-poured contents of the container. Common places where such situations arise are: households, restaurants, and bars where wine is sold.
It is desirable to aerate wine before it is served, that is, to allow air to filter into the liquid even though contact with oxygen is undesirable for long term storage. Many wine enthusiasts recommend that aeration improves the taste of the wine, making it smoother by allowing contact with oxygen where certain components in the wine can be oxidized.
In contrast, during storage, it is desirable to prevent contact between the liquid and oxygen. For example, prolonged exposure to oxygen causes oxidation and allows a microbe found in wine to start converting the ethyl alcohol in the wine into acetic acid—which is the main component of vinegar. The wine taste is then degraded or lost. There are similar problems with other fluids.
Aeration can be performed by pouring the wine into a decanter and letting it stand for an hour or two. An alternate method, as taught herein, is by a forced aeration method which is done while the wine is being poured into a glass, and is much faster.
Decanting is an undesirable, inconvenient extra step in the serving process due to the delay required between pouring and actually consuming the wine. Aeration methods used by others in many cases require very cumbersome equipment and the use of two hands. The desire for improved pouring out of a container needs special attention or a separate pouring stopper. Storage preservation is not a handy process and capping is not easy, especially with the original cork.
Aerators do currently exist on the market, however other equipment is required to perform other functions such as pouring or preservation which is inconvenient. Other aerators are inserted into the end of a bottle/container and have undesirably long protruding spouts to assure aeration and pouring, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,660.
A simple storage method for the preservation of wine can be provided by injecting an inert gas that displaces the air in an open container and attempting to insert the original cork back into the end of the bottle/container. This is undesirable due to the awkward nature of fitting the old cork back into the container which allows oxygen back into the container.
Nitrogen is the preferred inert gas for wine storage because of its low solubility in wine, and its affordability. Alternate gases used for preservation are argon, carbon dioxide, and helium. These gases are available commercially in substantially pure forms in aerosol or similar containers, and readily purge oxygen from the container.
Another method of storage is to put a stopper in the container with a small center tube insert and then pump out the air at the top of the container. This prevents contact with oxygen. Commercial systems are available today for this which include a hand pump and end container stopper. This is less desirable because the vacuum is often partial, and can be difficult to maintain.
There are some partial efforts by others to address issues with pouring, preservation, and aeration. Some typical examples follow.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,660 by Flanbaum describes a pourer device for simultaneously pouring a liquid from a container and mixing air into the liquid. Though an opening is designed for air suction, which provides for aeration, the location of the air suction point is at the venturi restriction point which causes the aeration to be turbulent, requiring the use of baffles or a screen downstream of the venturi. This, in turn, causes the pouring of the wine to have a sloppy characteristic, and undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. D640,904 by Wax shows an aerator that is more of a decanter approach. Wine is poured into a container which is then poured into a glass. However, this design is only somewhat better aeration than simply pouring a glass of wine, as the improved contact with air is marginal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,836 by Lee is a dispensing device for a bottle designed to pour out liquid smoothly in a metered manner, and additionally trap particles. It contains a cap to provide sealing after use. It is lacking in design features for aeration.
The above references highlight the fact that though individual components can be found in an end stopper or end of container device, it is difficult to combine multiple features into one single satisfactory device for the end of a container. The desire for aeration, the need to remove oxygen from a container for storage, to pour satisfactory, to provide effective sealing, to provide for sanitation, to design for convenience and elegance while entertaining is a difficult challenge. The opening in a container is small, and the ability to provide an economical solution to the problems also makes the task difficult.
A technical solution which could be made from plastic in a mold injection machine, with a minimum of assembly and packaging, would be an affordable economic-business solution to lend itself to being used among multiple containers that have been opened. It is also desirable that the assembly is easily cleanable, preferably in a soapy water solution or dishwasher.
There is a need in the marketplace to provide for an aerator, pourer, preserver, with a cap for sealing that is all combined in a single design that lends itself to mass production with economic scale that allows use on multiple containers after they are opened. Additionally, it is desirable to provide a design that requires little or no training for an individual for safe use.